Help me pick my first IronMan

Living in NY, I say go for Lake Placid. That one seems to get great reviews and from what Ive read the town is great that week. I signed up for LP 07 as my first and I am excited. Hills and mountains in Bklyn?? You are only an hour ride from Harriman State Park and there are really good hills there, try and go on the weekends and get them in. Being that you have 2 years to train and 1 year to decide though, I would just concentrate on getting a nice base. Tackle the hills next year at this time when you know what race venue you are doing.

Also on the Ironman websites, they give the bike profile so you can see which ones suit you best.

Edited by MForger18 2006-09-01 1:44 PM

Well, other than asking for feedback here... another great idea might be to review the Race Reports for the various IM's and see what people have said.

I did LP for my first and wrote up a post on why I thought it was such a great race. There was some good discussion around it.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...

The bonus for you would be that it's easily driving distance. Not having hills is an issue, but not a HUGE one. The real key is to keep a steady effort whether going uphill, down, or flat. That's not easy (I completely failed and I even had a PowerTap!).

I went on the IMNA website, opened the profiles for all the courses, and looked for the flattest one. And the winner it......IMFL

I'll be signing up for 07

i am nowhere near an ironman, but i can say that lake placid is a fantastic place! i just happened to be there in 2004 (? i think that was the year) when the ironman was getting set up. unfortunately my vacation ended before the race day. it was nothing short of inspiring! watching the athletes move around town and interact with one another and the locals, it was like everyone was a part of a huge barbeque or something. i have never seen such a group of athletes, the ironmen (and women of course!) - they were truly a sight to behold. like machines... the muscles... the expressions... they all seemed pretty prepared to me! i would have loved to have stayed to watch!

besides, my heart belongs to that area upstate NY - i am from long island but had a yearly vacation to loon lake, just a bit further north of lake placid (just past saranac) and i just love everything about it! loon lake is a lot more secluded which has its benefits, but there was always placid when we wanted to go out on "the town", and horseback riding!

i would recommend it for the scenery alone - the lake is a sight to behold really, and the ski jumps and the olympic center is so amazing!

do it do it!!!

I have heard that if you have trained on rolling hills then the Lake Placid isn't as bad as you might imagine it (as it is in Adirondack MOUNTAINS). Temperature there seems pretty reasonable too - I don't think I could cope with the heat of some of the southern places.
I haven't done one yet but have signed up for my first as Lake Placid. Big factor for me was locality as not only is it driveable it is close enough to drive and check out the course for a weekend beforehand.

Have fun choosing

Jackie

I'd also look around at some of the other races that are IM distances but aren't "Ford Ironman NA races." There are other options, not IMNA, which are great races and the entry fees are sometimes 1/2 of what a IMNA will cost you. Sorry, if it doesn't include my Porsche no way I'm paying a $500 entry fee. I don't care who's name is on the race.

Here is one IM race in our area competing directly with IMCDA and IMC but costs $300 instead of $500 and is a great venue/course as well, with awesome support.
http://www.eventsonline.ca/events/grandcolumbian/

IMLP is a classic and had might be hard to pass up being so close. Which will cut costs on travel for you, your bike, family support and friends.

IMFL is the flat course but don't let that sway you I might suggest just riding a lot and do the research for the right gearing on your choosen race and buy it.

Check here for more info:
http://www.ironmannorthamerica.com/

and here for IMNA topo comparisons
http://www.ironmannorthamerica.com/compare/comparebike.php

Once you decide which IMNA race then you have to go through the PIA of actually getting a slot for your $500 @ with IMNA. That generally means being on the race site the day after the race ends the year before you want to enter and race. Which means standing in line for a few hours. That in itself should make you pretty committed for the next year Grand Columbian for example you ccould still register for it today, 3 weeks before the race. I like the option just in case you have health issues (and anyone can) and wonder where you'll be in 6 months from now let alone a full year later.
YMMV

Let me give you another angle, the one I'm using to choose my HIM. If you are married,- ask the misses where she would like to see you race. Let's assume you get to the location a few days early for training and all the pre-race events, she's going to be there with you---can be very boring. But if you choose a location that would make a great mini-vacation-hey, kill two birds with one stone. I'm thinking St. Croix and/or Monaco because I also want to visit those areas and my wife thinks it's great. We're going to plan a vacation around the event.
When you factor in the cost of the event, travel and how many nights you're going to be there why not make it a vacation?
If you're racing to get a qualifing spot for Kona?.....Marc Allen has some advice on that and I'll try to find the link.

I'm not even fancying an enry into an Im as I started Sprints this summer. I've read that the Madison WI Ironman that happens next weekend is one of the toughest ever, and weirdly enough, most popular because of it's location. There was a thread about this rac recently on BT and Slowtwitch. I'm sure you can find id easily if you are interested.

Hi. I just registered on this website today and I'm new to the sport, so excuse me if I am stating the obvious. I was just in Penticton BC (Canada) to watch the Ironman 2 weeks ago. It was a very nice course, but maybe a bit hillier than you are looking for. At any rate, registration opened up for 2007 race the day after this years event. It fills up that first day of registration every year I guess. I don't know if this is standard with all Ironman events, but that is something you may want to consider. (i.e. you would be registering next year for the 2008 race).

Hope this helps